1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method enabling consumers to purchase information from their vehicle while traveling and subsequently retrieving the information so purchased at a docking station such as a fueling environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Humans are naturally cursed with finite information gathering senses. Without omniscience, humans must rely on secondary sources for much of the information on which they make daily decisions. The ability to access information on which these decisions are made is an ever evolving process. While the Information Age has made available vast quantities of information in today's society, there is no guarantee that an individual has access to any of this information. However, advances in information gathering are keeping individuals abreast of and on top of the enormous amounts of information available.
Initially, radio and television helped keep individuals abreast of current events and other desired information. Telephones let people stay in touch so that people could stay on top of different sorts of information, like family news and other random gossip. More recently, networked computers have created and provided the Internet, and more specifically, the World Wide Web, with its myriad information sources. Networked computers have also allowed people to purchase items or information such as hotel reservations, airline tickets and the like from the convenience of their home or office computer.
However, networked computers have suffered from the fact that they must have a phone line or equivalent physical link to access the desired information. While cellular phones, wireless modems, and other wireless devices are proliferating and seemingly eliminating the need for the physical link, presently bandwidth limitations preclude such devices from being truly effective information gathering devices. That is, downloading a large quantity of information requires an extended amount of time, and since most cellular customers pay for each minute, the cost associated with these lengthy downloads rapidly becomes prohibitive. Higher bandwidth through cellular service, if available, is also more expensive, although the transmission times may be reduced.
In an effort to help promote the convergence of information gathering devices, Marconi Commerce Systems Inc., assignee of the present invention, has provided, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/896,988, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,629 which is herein incorporated by reference, an Internet capable fuel dispenser allowing consumers to remain connected to the Internet even during the mundane task of fueling their vehicle. Additionally, a family of patents to Smith exists, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,914,654 and 5,806,018, which are incorporated by reference, that teaches techniques of allowing consumers to purchase information through a fuel dispenser. Specifically, Smith contemplates the existence of effective onboard computers that may receive information through the fuel dispensers for manipulation by the consumer from within the vehicle. However, Smith teaches that the information may be purchased only at the fuel dispenser and delivered therefrom. This requires that the consumer select, purchase, and receive the information during a single visit to the fueling environment. This may result in inefficient use of time at the fueling environment. Furthermore, the type of information available for purchase is limited by the resources available to the fuel dispenser. That is, if the fuel dispenser only has access to certain resources, the consumer may only purchase information from those certain resources. If the consumer desires information from another source, she is out of luck.
Thus, the problem exists that information cannot be purchased from a source such as a vehicle and delivered at another separate location or area.